Hyrox pacing: how to split your race

Most people do not lose a Hyrox race on a station. They lose it in the first 10 minutes, by running too fast.

Pacing is the cheapest way to get faster. It costs nothing and you can practise it. This guide gives you a simple way to plan your race, so you know your numbers before you start. Plus 4 bonus guides, including a Race Day Pack with a pace planner and goal sheet.

Why pacing matters more here

In a normal run, you can hold a hard pace and slow down a little at the end. Hyrox is different. After each kilometre you do a station that wrecks your legs, then you run again.

The run after a sled or a set of lunges is slower than the one before it. That is normal. If you plan for it, it does not hurt you. If you ignore it, you will start the next run already tired.

Step 1: pick a run pace you can repeat

Your race pace is not your fastest 1 km. It is the pace you can run eight times, each one after a station.

A simple way to find it: run a hard 1 km, then do 500 m on the rower, then run another 1 km. Repeat once more. If the second run is much slower, your first pace was too fast. Slow down a little and try again.

Your true race pace is often slower than your stand-alone 8 km pace. That is fine. It is the number that gets you to the finish without a collapse.

Step 2: set your station times

Time each station on its own in training. Do not guess. Use the PR tracker to store them.

Do not start with the heaviest stations at full effort. Practise them at a steady effort, the effort you could repeat, not the effort that destroys you.

Step 3: add it up

Open the race time calculator. Enter your category, your run pace and your station times. It adds the 8 runs, the 8 stations and your roxzone time and gives you a finish time.

Here is a worked example, with made up numbers, to show the sum. Eight runs at 6:00 per km is 48:00. Eight stations that add up to 35:00. A roxzone allowance of 4:00. That is 87:00, or 1:27:00. These numbers are only for the example. Use your own.

Look at the chart. It shows where your time goes, and it highlights your biggest time leak against the starting values. That tells you what to train.

Step 4: use the clock column

The split table has a Clock column. It shows where you should be on the clock at the end of each run and each station.

Screenshot it or write it on your hand. If you are two minutes ahead at the end of run 3, you are probably going too fast. If you are far behind, do not panic and do not sprint. Pull back to the plan.

Step 5: plan for the fade

The calculator has a late race fade slider. Many people slow down on the last runs. If you know you do, set the fade at a few percent and see what it does to your finish time. Then decide how you will race it.

Fade is not a failure. It is information. Plan for it, then train to shrink it.

Want a target? Work backwards

Switch the calculator to Hit a target time. Enter the finish time you want. It scales your current times to show the run pace and the station splits you would need.

If the pace it asks for looks out of reach, the target is too big for now. Pick a smaller step and build toward it.

Race day pacing rules

• Run the first kilometre slower than feels natural. You will feel great and you will want to go. Do not.
• Hit your pace by kilometre 2, not kilometre 1.
• Work through the stations at a steady effort. Do not sprint the first one.
• Break the long stations, like wall balls, into sets before you have to.
• Keep moving through the roxzone. Walking there costs seconds that add up.
• If the last two kilometres feel good, that is the time to push.

Questions people ask

What pace should I run in Hyrox?

One you can repeat eight times on tired legs. Test it with run and station combos in training, then put it into the race time calculator to see your finish time.

Should I push harder in the stations or the runs?

Look at the calculator chart to see which one costs you the most time, then train that. For many people the runs are the bigger block of time, but your own numbers decide it.

Is it bad to slow down in the last runs?

A little fade is normal. Plan for it with the fade slider. A big fade usually means the early pace was too hot.

How do I know if my goal time is realistic?

Switch the calculator to target mode and look at the pace it asks for. If that pace feels far beyond what you can hold in training, pick a smaller goal first and build toward it.